City of Buchanan plans municipal complex

Police, fire, city hall would share $1.5 million facility.

Police, fire, city hall would share $1.5 million facility.

June 15, 2006|STAN MADDUX Tribune Correspondent

BUCHANAN -- The city of Buchanan has taken another step toward possible construction of a municipal complex, a proposal that's several years in the making. The Buchanan City Commission this week accepted a bid from St. Joseph-based Prism Environmental for an amount not to exceed $4,000. Prism will conduct an environmental assessment on land the city is interested in buying to make sure the site is stable enough to construct a facility and determine if there is any contamination. Buchanan Mayor Earl "Joe'' Scanlon said having such an assessment is standard practice before any land acquisition. "We need to know if there is any environmental problems before we consider making an offer,'' Scanlon said. To protect any ongoing negotiations, officials would not disclose which property will have the environmental assessment performed. Scanlon said land directly to the north and south of City Hall along Red Bud Trail is the target area for a municipal complex. The complex would be created by having city hall, the police station and fire department all on one site. The land to the north presently houses Denny's Automotive, while to the south across East Third Street is land formerly occupied by Golden Farm Candies. "That whole area is the general area we're looking,'' Scanlon said. In 2004, the commission had an architect draw up plans for a municipal complex that includes converting the present 7,000-square-foot city hall into a police station. Those plans also include relocating city hall to a new 6,800-square-foot building just to the north and the 16,000-square-foot structure that formerly housed Golden Farm Candies to the south occupied by the fire department. However, Scanlon said another option is moving the police station inside city hall and erecting a new structure just to the north or south to house both city hall and the fire department. "We have a few different paths we can go,'' Scanlon said. The preliminary cost is about $1.5 million. Scanlon said the city has saved up just over a half million dollars for the project. "We knew this was going to be coming,'' said Scanlon. About five years ago, the city began seriously considering its options because walls at the fire department were separating from the foundation, which is cracking in many spots. The police department is housed in the Ross-Sanders building constructed in 1856 and in need of repair. The Ross-Sanders building is also severely lacking in efficiency due to a design not originally intended for law enforcement. Scanlon said the environmental assessment should take six weeks to complete. Possible acquisition of the property could come to the commissioners for a vote within two to three months, he said.